It’s been on my mind since spring and I’ve tried to avoid it, but lately a few things have been impossible to ignore. Running our own guide service and raising a couple of kids makes it tough to dwell on anything minor for very long, but when some seemingly random points come together to create […]
Almost Too Much To Remember It All
It’s easy for us to know we’ve been guiding for months and on the water almost everyday. We can tell because we don’t know what day it really is. We know we’re supposed to meet Angler X at Location Y in the morning because that’s what the schedule says, but as far as what day […]
Scenes From A Day in the Life
We’re well into our “backcountry” fishing season here in the Smoky Mountains. Warm weather precludes the need for waders so it’s easier to hike in with only wading boots and a fly rod. Even as we really enjoy rowing the drift boat or instigating smallmouth bass to eat a popper, there’s something extra cool about […]
Happy Fathers’ Day Weekend
I’m often asked if I ever get tired of going fishing. My usual response it to smile and point out that I don’t really get all that much time handling the equipment, just primarily help others catch fish. So no, I don’t get tired of going fishing. In fact, I’d like to get to go […]
Camera Voodoo
Fishermen are a superstitious lot and we’re no exception. Anyone who’s followed us over the years knows about our devotion to Rain Jacket Voodoo. (Yes, capitalized.) Rain Jacket Voodoo is where you can carry rain gear for months and never use it, but the first time you venture out without it you’ll get soaked. We […]
In The Thick of The Season
Well here we go! We’ve been guiding a pretty steady schedule for a little more than a month now, but the lingering cold weather put things off just a little bit. But that’s all about to change. We’re packing our last items for our long weekend camp on Hazel Creek while trying to remember to […]
Good Bye to an Old Friend
The phone rang about dinner time last night and it all became a little more real. It was a truck driver on the outskirts of St Louis heading this way with a load of Hyde drift boats. One of them is ours. “You’re the guy with the trade-in, right?” That was our cue to get […]
Spring Break at R&R Fly Fishing
We’re back from our spring break sabbatical with the kids. Now that our daughter is in school our schedules are somewhat beholding to her schedule. For the past few years we’ve made it a point to take a spring break camping trip. As that’s March in the Smokies the weather is always a factor. This […]
Fall Fly Fishing Forecast for the Smokies and East Tennessee
September is well on its way and there has been a chill in the air in the mornings. Wake up temperatures have been just a touch more than 50 degrees here in Townsend and you know it much cooler in the higher elevations of the Smokies. It’s even been way down in the 30’s on […]
A Guide’s Life – A Chronic Case of the Willies
One of the great things about life in the mountains is that wildlife is all around you. Of course we’ve had neighbors who felt like that was a huge downside of life in the mountains and even moved back to more urban surroundings as a result. It’s not uncommon for us to see any number […]